Due to unrest within the royal family over his rule, Saud was forced to appoint his half-brother, Crown Prince Faisal, as prime minister.

The honorific title of "Second Deputy Prime Minister" goes back to 1967, in order to designate who was the senior prince not excluded from the throne.

In March 1965, under pressure from King Faisal and the House of Saud, crown prince Mohammed stepped down as apparent to the Saudi throne.

However, he was reluctant to accept the offer of King Faisal to be named crown prince several times until March 1965.

As King Khalid became ill with old age, the question of who would succeed Abdullah as the second deputy prime minister became more pressing.